This editorial board applauds the city of Hemet for taking steps to improve its governance after years of mismanagement.
Back in 2016, the state auditor issued a scathing assessment of where the city was at with a report titled “City of Hemet: Its Ongoing Budget Deficit and Organizational Inefficiency Threaten Its Financial Stability and Delivery of Public Services.”
Just over two years ago, the auditor concluded the city had taken enough steps in the right direction to merit being removed from the high-risk category.
With its newfound freedom to consider more frivolous ideas, Hemet City Hall has taken to drafting a proposal that would, as this paper explained, “require the city to issue press credentials to journalists before they could gain access and report from the scene of a fire, flood or other disaster.”
Reporter Beau Yarbrough ontinued, “The city would also require journalists undergo a background check, which might involve fingerprinting, according to the proposed policy, and a review of the journalist’s criminal history. Those turned down for media credentials would need to appeal to Hemet’s chief of police or a designated representative, according to the proposed policy.” But even after all of that, and more, the city would still have the authority to restrict journalistic activities.
Sorry, but this isn’t the Soviet Union. This is Hemet.
Existing state law already prohibits anyone from willfully interfering with first responder activities.
State law also and that pesky thing called the First Amendment to the United States Constitution also empower the press to do their jobs.
The draft proposal by the city includes language calling for periodic reviews of the policy by the police chief, fire chief and the public works director. It also gives the city manager, in consultation with the city attorney, the power to amend the policy.
This just sounds like city officials in Hemet are bored and want to have more meetings and things to occupy their time with.
This idea shouldn’t have come up in the first place and it’s a shame that city time and resources were put into it. Our advice to Hemet city officials: just do your jobs and leave the press alone.
